War literature

Click here for all items related to: War literature The experiences and emotions associated with war have always inspired poetry, prose and literary musings. We begin with the literature of World War I, but welcome discussion on all artistic response

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Two war poems, one from a disabled veteran, the other from a former diplomat

We don’t often do poetry on Honest History but these two poems deserve a run. The first is from Frank Jock O’Neill, of Disabled Veterans of Australia Network. (Press article about the Network and its mission to reduce suicide rates

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Handasyde, Kerrie: Anzac theology and women poets under the Southern Cross

Kerrie Handasyde ‘Anzac theology and women poets under the Southern Cross‘, Colloquium: The Australian and New Zealand Theological Review, Vol. 49 No. 1, May 2017, pp. 17-30 (pdf courtesy of author; open access) During the Great War Australians lived within

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Cahill, Rowan: two poets (Denis Kevans & Henry Weston Pryce) – review essay

Rowan Cahill ‘Two poets (Denis Kevans and Henry Weston Pryce), war and a manuscript: a review essay’, Honest History, 17 December 2015 In the Special Collections of the Australian Defence Force Academy’s (ADFA) Academic Library is a manuscript by poet

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Djubal, Clay et al, ed.: World War I in Australian literary culture

Djubal, Clay, Catriona Mills, Robert Thomson & Kerry Kilner, ed. ‘World War I in Australian literary culture: from the first shot to the centenary‘, AustLit This is a major research project on the way World War I has featured in

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Honest History poet: Mary Gilmore

‘Honest History poet: Mary Gilmore, two wars, four poems’, Honest History, 12 May 2015 Mary Gilmore (born Cameron) was born in 1865, spent a few years in South America seeking utopia, married and had a child, was a friend of

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Perkins, Cathy: A spoonful of blood

Perkins, Cathy ‘A spoonful of blood‘, Meanjin, 13 March 2015 On the life and work of Zora Cross (1890-1964), an Australian poet active during and after the Great War. Her poetry collection Songs of Love and Life was a publishing event, with

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Highlights reel: patriotic poems from Perth

‘Highlights reel: popular poems from Perth’, Honest History, 24 December 2014 Edwin Greenslade Murphy (1866-1939), known as ‘Dryblower’, was a popular poet regularly featured in the Perth Sunday Times during the Great War. He seems to have written hundreds or

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They also serve

I wanted to talk about the damage war does through generations … It doesn’t stop at the people who actually fought. It affects children and the children of the children. I’m afraid the guys get excited about a war and

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Jokes at the Front

One can joke with a badly-wounded man and congratulate him on being out of it. One can disregard a dead man. But even a miner can’t make a joke that sounds like a joke over a man who takes three

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Olsen, Rod: Great war poets

Olsen, Rod ‘Writing about war: the (mostly British) Great War poets’, Honest History, 2 November 2013 Describes poetry at the outbreak of war and how it changed under the influence of the war. Reproduces a number of poems, examines the

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Senghor, Leopold Sedar: Senegalese sharpshooters

Senghor, Leopold Sedar ‘To Senegalese sharpshooters who died for France‘, No Glory in War 1914-1918 Senghor, one of Africa’s most noted poets and statesmen, wrote this poem in 1938-40. It is included here for three reasons: to remind us that

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Simpson, Catherine: Turkey, Gallipoli, film, nationalism

Simpson, Catherine ‘From ruthless foe to national friend: Turkey, Gallipoli and Australian nationalism‘, Media International Australia, 137, 1, November 2010, pp. 58-66 As the centenary of the Gallipoli landings draws closer, we will no doubt be inundated with more media

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Jauncey on those who also serve (26 March 2014)

David Stephens writes as Jauncey. When Milton wrote the famous words, ‘They also serve who only stand and wait’, he was reflecting on his blindness. But the line has been used since in all sorts of ways, ranging from a

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McMullin, Ross: Will Dyson

McMullin, Ross Will Dyson: Australia’s Radical Genius, Scribe, Carlton North, Vic., 2006; revised edition 2006 Biography of a war cartoonist, war artist and artist There is a review here, another one here (quoted below) and the author talks about his

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Gerster, Robin: Big-noting

Gerster, Robin Big-noting: the Heroic Theme in Australian War Writing, Melbourne University Press, Carlton, Vic., 1987; reprint with different pagination 1992 The author is critical of CEW Bean and many others, writers of both fiction and non-fiction from World War

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Inglis, KS: Anzac tradition (1965)

Inglis, KS ‘The Anzac tradition’, John Lack, ed., Anzac Remembered: Selected Writings by K.S. Inglis, History Department, University of Melbourne, 1998, pp. 18-42; first published, Meanjin, 100, March 1965 Considers at length writings inspired by Anzac, stressing CEW Bean’s descriptions

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O’Neill, Sharon & Alan Seymour: One Day of the Year 2003

O’Neill, Sharon & Alan Seymour ‘The one day of the year‘, ABC Stateline NSW, 25 April 2003 (transcript) The revival of the 1960 play occasions a look at changing attitudes towards Anzac. Reporter Sharon O’Neill interviews author Alan Seymour.

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Hillman, Roger: A transnational Gallipoli?

Roger Hillman ‘A transnational Gallipoli?‘ Australian Humanities Review, 51, November 2011, pp. 25-42 (free download) ‘Changing perceptions of Gallipoli’, the author argues, ‘are an instructive case study in a world of increasingly transnational perspectives’. (p. 25) Considers the views of

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Broadbent, Harvey: A simple epic: Gallipoli and the Australian media

Harvey Broadbent ‘A simple epic’: Gallipoli and the Australian media (The 2009 Lone Pine Anniversary Lecture) Media includes newspapers, radio and television, internet, cinema, theatre and books. The article covers the whole period 1915-2009. ‘Media … was involved from the

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Bongiorno, Frank et al, ed.: Mars and Minerva

Frank Bongiorno, Iain Spence & John Moses, ed. ‘Mars and Minerva: Australian intellectuals and the Great War’, Australian Journal of Politics and History, 53, 3, September 2007 (special edition) Covers the fields of science and technology, literature and literary criticism,

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